The Family Mediation Council (FMC) has written to the new Secretary of State for Justice, setting out how family mediation can improve outcomes for separating families, reduce pressure on the family justice system, and save public money.
In the letter, FMC Chair Stephen Burke says the recent Justice Select Committee report Access to Justice: Legal Aid provides “a timely opportunity for the Government to strengthen family mediation and protect access to legally aided provision.”
Mr Burke writes:
“The Government has an opportunity to improve outcomes for separating families, reduce pressure on the family justice system, and save public money.”
The letter highlights the growing pressures on legally aided family mediation, noting a 50% reduction in the number of family mediators offering legal aid in eight years.
Mr Burke writes:
“There is a real danger that low-income families may soon be unable to access legally aided family mediation to enable them to make agreements over parenting, property or money.”
He continues: “Since 2018 there has been a 50% reduction in the number of family mediators offering legal aid. This is because legal aid rates paid to mediators have remained unchanged for over 25 years.”
The letter explains that some providers have already stopped offering legally aided mediation, while others are restricting the number of legally aided clients they are able to accept.
It adds: “If legal aid rates for family mediators are not raised, access to affordable and legally aided family mediation for families in need will erode further and could simply disappear.”
Good for families, the justice system and the public purse
The FMC also argues that strengthening family mediation would benefit not only separating families but the wider justice system and public finances.
Mr Burke writes:
“Family mediation can significantly reduce the negative impact on young people of family separation and parental conflict. It can also reduce the costs accruing from parental conflict, reaping significant long-term dividends for the UK economy.”
The letter notes that family mediation helps separating couples resolve issues relating to children, property and finances without the stress, delay and expense that can accompany contested court proceedings, while also reducing pressures on other professionals and public services.
Among the measures proposed by the FMC are:
- a renewed Government commitment to family mediation and the profession
- an urgent increase in legal aid rates paid to family mediators, and
- joined-up action across Government to support a “family mediation first” approach.
Concluding the letter, Mr Burke says:
“The recent Justice Select Committee report creates a timely opportunity for the Government to strengthen family mediation and protect access to legally aided provision.”
